Amma

Last weekend I took my mother-in-law (a saint herself) to see Amma, the hugging saint. We drove through snow, sleet, and rain to get to Dearborn, MI. A trip that was supposed to take about 3 1/2 hours ended up taking 5. Although we saw many slide-offs along the way, we arrived safely.

Amma gives darshan -- a blessing -- in the form of a hug. She will sit for 12 to 24 hours at a time to give hugs to everyone who comes to see her. Luckily for us, she will allow first timers and older or sickly visitors to go ahead of others. Since my mother-in-law had never seen Amma before and has back and knee problems, they didn't make us wait our turn. We waited less than an hour before we received Darshan.

I was brave enough to ask for a "Baby Blessing" (as I call it). She simply touched my belly and gave me Prasad -- food blessed by the Guru. I use the word "brave" because #1 -- by asking for the blessing, I am revealing my faith and #2 -- I'm also putting my faith to the test.

Faith is something I have always struggled with -- to believe in something that can't be proven, well, I just never thought I'd be able to do that. To be honest, I'm even a little embarrased by it -- like people will think I'm simple-minded. Also what little faith I have is so weak and vulnerable, the slightest inconsistency could obliterate it.

I guess I figured it was worth the risk.

Childhood Friend

Growing up I had a best friend who lived just two streets down from me. In the excitement and impatience that only children possess, we discovered a shortcut that saved us a few extra steps to each others' houses.

I broke my leg at her house when I was five. Her mom curled my hair for picture day once. Our older sisters AND younger brothers were friends.

But then, she moved away. We wrote once or twice to each other but somehow, we lost touch. I've thought about her often. When modeling for my students the idea of writing about something that is special or important to you, I used her as an example.

Who would have guessed though, that our paths would ever cross again?

Through the wonder of technology, our younger brothers' paths crossed. Now I have her e-mail address and am looking forward to her reply.

Snow Drops Keep Falling On My Head

This is the first year I wasn't looking forward to the snow... until it starting falling in those beautiful lake effect flakes.

The dusting started last night and I felt the childlike excitement building. I wasn't even upset at having to scrape off the windshield this morning.

But when I saw the fat, wet clumps of snow falling as I drove into work today, I knew that deep down I will always look forward to the snow.

Day of the Dead Party

This one's for my Bub...

(Bub is my nickname for my husband)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

New Post

So I was told it was time to post something new...

But right now I just don't have much to write about. I could just list some random thoughts. Here goes:



Hmmm... I'm empty. Sorry!

I will blow your pants off!!

Below is a student's writing sample (verbatim). Let me set it up for you. This girl is not in my class. Her teacher was absent and they couldn't find a substitute, so they split the kids up, giving each teacher a few of them. She ended up in my class. This was also the day we administered the school wide writing prompt. The topic they were given 50 minutes to write about was "Hanging Out with Friends". Below is what she wrote:

Me and My Friends

Hi, My name is E----- and this is my friend Sam. Today my mom is taking us to the mall for some shoe's then we are going out to eat and skating. How cool is my mom? I will yell it out loud to the hole earth even my tearcher Miss Moya She is so cool you would what her. She will blow your pants off. And on fun Friday she is even cooer you sould see her your pants will fly off way to the sky and they miet not come down so you miet whet to go home in you shirt or go home in you pants. One time me and my friends wear in her class for fun Friday we had cake and icescrem. And a baninis Splits get in the splits. She is nice she always look nice She's be nice to anyone in her class she's cool when one of her kid have a fit or when there is a bad game and even when her kids are talking to much. You should hear her sing it is like an god in the sky. I mean she is the best. I am so happy I have her today as my teacher. Good-bye.

Damn! No one ever told me I was so awesome! ;P

Serenity

I've been getting steadily upset recently with our education system. I see so many problems with it. The biggest problem being that the government is putting fear into the administrators and teachers. This, in turn, is causing everyone to make dumb choices which ultimately harm our children.

Can you say No Child Left Behind?

Didn't think so.

So today, during our Teacher Training Day, when they mandated that a four-hour assessment tool be used every quarter, I really wanted to flip out. I was more upset than I have been in a while. So today, when I came home to meditate, it suddenly hit me.



This is out of your control! Focus on what you CAN control. What can you control?


And suddenly I began picturing small, smiling moments between me and my students and a huge weight was taken off my shoulders. I am not making the kind of impact I'd like to be making (because of forces out of my control) but I am making a difference and it matters to these kids.

This Guy is a Genius

I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.
Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a "We Deserve It Dividend".
To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.
Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.. So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a "We Deserve It Dividend". Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife has $595,000.00. What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family? Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved. Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads; Put away money for college - it'll be there; Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs; Buy a new car - create jobs; Invest in the market - capital drives growth; Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves; Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else.

Remember this is for every adult US Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving
in our Armed Forces. If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( 'vote buy' ) economic incentive that is being proposed
by one of our candidates for President. If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+! As for AIG - liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up. Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.
Sure it's a crazy idea that can 'never work.' But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom? I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion. We deserve it more than the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC do. And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam. Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Kindest personal regards,
Birk
T. J . Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy &
Citizen of the Republic

PS: Feel free to pass this along to
your pals as it's either good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering
thought on how to best use $85 Billion!!
--
When told the reason for Daylight Saving time the old Indian said...
'Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of the blanket and have a longer blanket.'

Not Ashamed

If you've hung around me for very long, then you know I talk about my depression, anxiety, and infertility. I'll talk to you about the anti-depressants I'm on and even my menstrual cycle. Every-once-in-a-while I'll get a look that says, "Whoa! Too much info," which is probably true. I don't have a well functioning floodgate. But the truth is, I know that there are MANY women (especially teachers) who are on anti-depressants and are afraid to talk about it. So, I just put it out there. My hope is that I'll help take the stigma away from mental illnesses by talking about it.

After I got back from India I was convinced that if I could just eat right, do my yoga and meditation everyday then I could cut back on my meds and maybe even one day stop it altogether. But, I'm just not able to handle it all. I'm feeling the weight of all of my responsibilities keeping me from being able to raise my spirits on my own. So even though I'm a little disappointed that I wasn't able to ween myself off these meds successfully this time, I realize several things:

1. I don't want to go back to where I was before I started taking meds.
2. Jesus doesn't deserve to go through THAT roller coaster again.
3. I gave it a good try. I can always try again next summer.
4. I'm not giving up, I'm just getting a little help to get me through the tough times.

So tomorrow when I go to see my psychiatrist, I'll ask him to please bump up the dosage again.